The sacred oils at Chrism Mass: Their significance in Christian living

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde

3/28/13

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde prepares the sacred oils by pouring balsam into containers during the Holy Thursday Chrism Mass at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington. The Mass was concelebrated with nearly every priest in the diocese.

The Oil of Catechumens, the Oil of the Sick, and Sacred
Chrism. I invite us to see in each of these three oils, so
dominant in this sacred liturgy, a kind of lens through which
to reflect more intentionally on the significance of this
Chrism Mass. Or, for those with technological awareness - and
many among us are so aware - to see in each of these three
oils a kind of app which, when contacted, opens more fully
the significance of this Mass.

The Oil of Catechumens. In the prayer of blessing
over the oil, we ask: "Lord God, give wisdom and strength to
all who are anointed with it in preparation for their
Baptism. Bring them to a deeper understanding of the Gospel,
help them to accept the challenge of Christian living, and
lead them to the joy of new birth in the family of your
Church" (Rites of the Blessing of Oils and Consecration
of the Chrism, n. 21).

As we witness the blessing of the Oil of the Catechumens, we
surely lift up in prayer the catechumens who will be baptized
during the Easter Vigil, and, indeed, all who will be
baptized throughout the coming year, both infants and adults,
within this diocese. We likewise recall our own Baptism and
seek to be deepened in our awareness and living of that
baptismal consecration with its universal call to be holy.

The blessing of the Oil of Catechumens also enables us to
become more intentionally committed to the New
Evangelization. As we are aware, the New Evangelization is
like a two-sided coin, that is, on the one hand, it calls
forth our being re-evangelized, and, on the other hand, it
simultaneously mandates our reaching out to others to come to
Jesus, the One Savior of the world. How much each one of us
needs to enter into and to sustain an intimate relationship
with the Lord Jesus within the Community of His Disciples.
How much also each one of us must witness to the Lord Jesus
in daily life, inviting others, among whom are those who once
practiced the faith, to come to Jesus, Who alone can satisfy
the deepest longings of the human heart. Yes, the Oil of
Catechumens calls us to reclaim our identity, which is to
evangelize. At Baptism, when we were reborn by water and the
Holy Spirit, and so became members of Christ's Body, the
Church, we were commissioned to evangelize in its two-fold
reality, because the Church "exists in order to evangelize,"
as Pope Paul VI so clearly reminded us (cf. Evangelii
Nuntiandi, n. 14).

The Oil of the Sick. As we witness the blessing of
this oil, we are made aware of its purpose. "Bless this oil
and sanctify it for our use. Make this oil a remedy for all
who are anointed with it: heal them in body, in soul, and in
spirit, and deliver them from every affliction" (cf. Op.
Cit., n. 20). Again we certainly pray for those who will
be anointed with it, asking the Lord to heal them in soul and
in body, whether they are experiencing serious illness or the
effects of advancing old age. We also pray too for those who
care for the ill and infirm. The Oil of the Sick can help us
become more mindful of our own outreach in loving concern for
the ill and elderly: those within our family, neighbors and
friends, fellow parishioners and, even more, those who have
no one to visit them, whether at their own home or in nursing
homes. Above all, the blessing of this Oil of the Sick should
awaken in us the desire and the will to be attentive to our
own spiritual health and to that of others. After all, our
promised inheritance is eternal life in the presence of God,
One in Three, and to arrive at this goal, we must be
spiritually healthy through the transforming power of
Christ's Death and Resurrection, mediated to us by the work
of the Holy Spirit within us.

Sacred Chrism. This oil is consecrated, not blessed,
that is, it is set aside to be made holy in a particular way,
for the anointing by the Holy Spirit of the newly-baptized,
and for the second anointing, later, by the Holy Spirit in
Confirmation. The prayer of consecration makes clear:
" through the sign of holy chrism, you dispense your
life and love to men. By anointing them with the Spirit, you
strengthen all who have been reborn in baptism. Through that
anointing you transform them into the likeness of Christ your
Son and give them a share in his royal, priestly, and
prophetic work" (cf. Ibid., n. 25, 3).

In this way, all of us - bishop, priests, deacons, men and
women living the consecrated life, and lay faithful - I
repeat, all of us are strengthened and energized by the grace
of God to be the Other Presence of Christ in our contemporary
society, His Body, the Church, allowing "the splendor of
holiness (to) shine on the world from every place and thing
signed with this oil" (cf. Ibid.).

Yes, these three oils - the Oil of Catechumens, the Oil of
the Sick and Sacred Chrism, together make clearly evident to
us that we are God's people, we belong to Him, as we
evangelize, catechize and witness, by both word and example,
proclaiming the Truth and living in Charity each day and all
days. During this Chrism Mass, let us renew our commitment to
the Lord Jesus and to His Church in loving fidelity and to
all our brothers and sisters in loving service.

Now I turn to you, my brother priests, who are my principal
co-workers in the pastoral care of the people entrusted to
us. The three oils and their significance for both our
reflection and our daily living in faith include all of us
gathered in this cathedral. Moreover, my brothers, in your
priestly ministry and pastoral care for the People of God
entrusted to me as diocesan bishop and, then, through me, to
you in your specific assignments, we shall each certainly use
these sacred oils in Baptism, in Confirmation, in Anointing
the Sick, and, as the bishop, in priestly ordination and in
the consecration of altars and churches. Your renewal of
priestly promises, following this homily, envisions the use
of the Oil of Catechumens, the Oil of the Sick and Sacred
Chrism.

However, Sacred Chrism holds a particular significance in
each of your lives as an ordained priest and in my life as
both an ordained priest and a consecrated bishop.

My brothers, does not each one of us have etched in our
memory the anointing of our hands with Sacred Chrism by the
ordaining bishop and the words which accompanied that
anointing? "The Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed
with the Holy Spirit and power, guard and preserve you, that
you may sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifice to
God" (Ritual of the Ordination of Priests, n. 133).
So then, this priestly anointing gives us the spiritual
strength and power to sanctify God's Holy People and to offer
sacrifice to God.

And, for me, when I was consecrated a bishop on April 12,
1988, the Principal Consecrator, the Most Reverend John F.
Whealon, poured sacred chrism on my head, praying: "God has
brought you to share the high priesthood of Christ. May he
pour on you the oil of mystical anointing and enrich you with
spiritual blessings" (Ritual of Episcopal
Consecration, n. 28). That episcopal anointing gives to
each bishop the spiritual strength and power to "preach the
word of God with unfailing patience and sound teaching,"
"with faith and love (to) protect the bride of God, his holy
Church," and to "watch over the whole flock in which the Holy
Spirit has appointed you to shepherd the Church of God"
(Ibid., nos. 29, 30 and 32).

As we reflect on these sacred oils within the context of
priestly life and ministry, and as you renew your priestly
promises in the presence of me, your bishop, and of God's
people, permit me to pose this question: "As you care for and
shepherd the flock entrusted to you and to me, who cares for
and shepherds you?"

The answer, for me, is abundantly clear and evident: your
bishop, who is, as the Second Vatican Council stated without
ambiguity, brother and friend to each one of his priests (cf.
Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 72). So, permit me to
respond further to this question with clarity and tangible
examples.

As I said earlier, through the imposition of hands and the
consecrating prayer which accompanied it, and through the
anointing with Sacred Chrism, each of you is configured to
Christ the Priest, Teacher and Pastor. It is my
responsibility - and even more, my privilege - to support you
in living out this unique configuration. Obviously, there are
many tangible and practical ways to implement this support of
you as your brother and friend. I propose three.

First of all, I wish to support you in being a man of prayer.
Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in his homily to several bishops
he consecrated on January 6 of this year counseled them to be
and to do what is also, without a doubt, what priests must
likewise be and do.

I say again, the priest, as the bishop, must be a man of
prayer. As the Pope said, "What sort of man must he be, upon
whom hands are laid in [priestly] ordination in the Church of
Jesus Christ? We can say that he must above all be a man
concerned for God, for only then will he also be truly
concerned about men. Inversely, we could also say that a
[priest] must be a man concerned for others, one who is
concerned about what happens to them. He must be a man for
others. But he can only truly be so if he is a man seized by
God, if concern for God has also become for him concern for
God's creature who is man .(H)e must be gripped by
God's concern for men and women. He must in some way think
and feel with God" (cf. Homily, January 6, 2013).

The Emeritus Pope continued: "The (priest), must be
above all a man of prayer. He must be in constant inner
contact with God; his soul must be open to God. He must bring
before God his own needs and the needs of others, as well as
his joys and the joys of others, and thus in his own way
establish a contact between God and the whole world in
communion with Christ, so that Christ's light can shine in
the world" (Ibid.).

So, my brothers, with all my heart, I urge you to be with the
Lord Jesus in the experience of prayer: surely and above all,
in the daily celebration of His Dying and Rising, and in the
Liturgy of the Hours, but also in quiet pondering of His Word
in Scripture, in just being with Him as He looks at you with
such love, and in seeking the help of His Mother and ours:
Mary Most Holy.

Secondly, I seek to support you in giving your lives in
self-emptying love to God's People. Configured to Christ, we
priests live in daily life the Eucharistic Sacrifice we
celebrate each day. To be a priest is of its very nature to
have a very personal relationship with Christ by walking in
His footsteps and carrying His Cross. Nowhere is this better
signified and actualized than in our celebration of the
Eucharistic Sacrifice. Yes, acting in His Person, we make
present each time we offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass His
Dying and Rising. And we simultaneously allow Him to make us
the very instruments of His self-sacrificing and life-giving
love to the people to whom he sends us. At a different level
of meaning, we too say: "This is my body, broken in service
for you; this is my blood poured out in service for you."
Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI highlights this priestly oblation:
"'The ministerial priesthood entails a profound relationship
with Christ Who is given to us in the Eucharist' which must
'be the center of your ecclesial mission .In
celebrating this Sacrament in the Lord's name and in His
person, the person of the priest cannot occupy center stage'
for 'he is a servant, a humble instrument pointing to Christ
Who offers Himself in sacrifice for the salvation of the
world'" (cf. Vatican News Service: Report on Pope Benedict
XVI's homily during First Vespers of the Solemnity of St.
Joseph, Yaounde, Cameroon).

Again, my brothers, with all my heart, I urge you to give
yourselves in self-emptying love and service to the people
entrusted to you. No, it is not always easy to live in this
way. It will cost us. But then, were we not instructed on the
Day of our Priestly Ordination: "Understand what you do,
imitate what you celebrate, and conform your life to the
mystery of the Lord's Cross"?

Thirdly and lastly, I wish to support you in your fraternal
unity and charity. The Lord Jesus prayed so fervently at the
Last Supper that His disciples would be one. If this is so
for all His disciples, it is all the more true for those He
chooses and sets aside to be His special friends, indeed His
brothers, through priestly ordination, for us! Yes, we are
limited, we fail at times to be kind and forgiving, we weaken
the unity that should mark us. But, we must never give up in
our efforts.

And, because we are one in the Lord, in Him and for His sake,
we must love one another as brothers and friends. Again, at
the Last Supper, He gave to all the disciples the new
commandment to love. "This is my commandment: love one
another as I love you" (cf. Jn 15:12). If this is so for all
His disciples, it is all the more true for those He has
embraced with such love, for us, enabling us to share in His
priestly love for the people whom He has redeemed by his
Blood. Yes, we can fail here and we do. But, we must never
cease in our desire and efforts to love one another within
our priestly fraternity: to carry one another in daily
prayer, to support one another with an encouraging word or
gesture, and yes, at times with an authentic love, to point
out some area for fraternal correction, or as Saint Paul
says, "living the truth in charity" (cf. Eph 4:15). I urge
you once more, my brothers, with all my heart, to build up
and to strengthen fraternal unity and fraternal charity.

Brother priests and all who are gathered here, our reflection
on the Oil of Catechumens, the Oil of the Sick and Sacred
Chrism, I pray, has enabled us to see their significance for
our daily living in faith, and for the specific roles we each
have within our individual God-given vocations. We are
chosen, consecrated and sent forth to be, in Jesus Christ, a
people who belong to Him and who, in His name, bring the
light of His truth and the warmth of His charity to a world
hungry and thirsting for Him, or as Pope Francis expressed so
powerfully in his first General Audience: "may
we (follow) the Lord with courage, and (carry) within
ourselves a ray of His love for all those whom we meet"
(General Audience Message, March 27, 2013).